Many of you are in the process of planning your Super Bowl parties this weekend and I thought I would share some of my plans for this weekend’s festivities.

First thing I look for is the food because that will dictate what kind of alcohol I will be consuming. Some people will look to have foods from each city represented at the party, which would mean New York style pizza, pastrami you wish was from Katz’s, bagels if you are starting early to represent the Giants and clam chowder, maybe some oysters and cod and Boston cream pie.

Honestly speaking, the foods of Boston just do not sound like good Super Bowl food for me though. Super Bowl should be portable, easily held in one hand (and one hand only) and quickly consumable. As Texans, I think the Mexican route is easier and fits my Super Bowl needs: fajitas, guacamole, chips and salsa. But this article is more about our favorite past time that comes along with the Super Bowl: drinking.

What alcohol should you have present during a Super Bowl party? The easy answer is whatever you like drinking but I have a few suggestions for people who want to branch out and try something different. First of all, if you are looking to do the NYC vs. Boston theme, might I suggest competing beers. Boston is the home to Samuel Adams and hopefully you have heard of Brooklyn Brewery in New York.

The plan is to find both the winter ales so we can have a friendly competition as to who is the better beer city. I picked the winter ale because it is supposed to be cold on Sunday but, given our current weather pattern, it might be better to go with lager versions of each brewery. Just an option. I would also consider rounding out the selections with some IPAs, like BrewDog’s Hardcore IPA, or something light, like Real Ale’s Fireman 4.

Now I am known for being a bit of a wine guys so naturally I will have a few offerings available. I will not be trying to bring wines of New York and Massachusetts so it is more about matching flavors and frankly whatever you like. If you went the city foods theme, then I would want to have a big red wine to match the flavors of pizza and pastrami, like a zinfandel or a Cotes du Rhone. Bogle makes a great zin under $10 and Seghesio is one of my favorite producers of zinfandel. Cotes du Rhone are grenache based blends that are delicious without breaking the bank.

Chapoutier makes a Cotes du Rhone called Belleruche that is excellent, cost around $15 and is an interesting talking piece because it has braille on the label. For Boston’s food, I would probably want a nice chardonnay, something like the Arbor Crest Connor Lee Vineyard from Washington state would be delicious with all that seafood.

Hopefully this helps give you some ideas if you are stumped on what to do for your party coming up or if you are going to someone’s party. Have fun, try something different and let me know what you drink.